Nonlinear relationship between motor skills and BMI in the group of school-age boys of 7–12 years

Abstract

Introduction. Childhood and adolescent obesity are associated with impairment of motor skills. However, studies assessing effect of underweight on motor skills as well as the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and motor skills are limited. The purpose of the study was to evaluate relationship between motor skills and BMI in the group of school-aged boys (7–12 years).

Material and methods. The data were collected fr om 7–12-year-old boys (1–5th grade) in the 38 Russia's federal constituent entities of eight federal districts. Height and weight were measured, BMI was calculated. Physical education teachers conducted the testing: endurance 6-minute run test (meters), 3x10 m shuttle run test (seconds), long standing jump (centimeters), forward bend test (centimeters), and 30-m sprint run test (seconds). The dataset contained 54 381 observations. The linear, quadratic and general additive models were built to check relationships between the motor skills and BMI.

Results. It was identified that high values of BMI are associated with impaired results of endurance and speed-strength abilities. Male children with a low and normal BMI values did not differ in motor skills. Despite a low level of explained variation of proportion of motor skills, a significant relationship between of motor development and BMI are noted. In the group of 7-year-old male children, the relationship was not identified. Whereas in the group of 8–12-year-old children it has a curvilinear relationship.

Conclusion. The relationship between motor skills and BMI is curvilinear (quadratic) in the group of 8–12-year-old boys. Hereafter, the modeling of non-linear relationship between motor development and BMI with other predictors might help identifying the optimum zone of body composition wh ere the adaptation potential will be the highest. It is also allowed to compare this zone in the groups of different ages and sexes. © 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.

References

Peterkova V.A., Bezlepkina O.B., Bolotova N.V., Bogova E.A., Vasyukova O.V. et al. Klinicheskie recomendacii “Ozirenie u detei” [Clinical recommendation “Childhood obesity”]. Problemi Endocrinologii [Endocrinology Issues], 2021, 67 (5), pp. 67-83. (In Russ.).

Soboleva N.P., Rudnev S.G., Nikolayev D.V., Eryukova Т.А., Kolesnikov V.A. et al. Bioimpedansnii skrining naseleniya Rossii v centrah zdorovia; rasprostranennost izbitochnoi massi i ozirenia [The bio-impedance screening of population in health centers: prevalence of surplus body mass and obesity]. Rossiiskii medicinskii zurnal [Russian Medical Journal], 2014, 4, pp. 4-13. (In Russ.). 

Artero E.G., España‐Romero V., Ortega F.B., Jiménez‐Pavón D., Ruiz J.R. et al. Health‐related fitness in adolescents: underweight, and not only overweight, as an influencing factor. The AVENA study. Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports, 2010, 20 (3), p.. 418-427. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2009.00959.x

Barros W.M.A., da Silva K.G., Silva R.K.P., da Silva Souza A.P., da Silva A.B.J. et al. Effects of Overweight/Obesity on Motor Performance in Children: A Systematic Review. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2021, 12. DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2021.759165.

Belcher B.R., Berrigan D., Dodd K.W., Emken B.A., Chou C.P. et al. Physical activity in US youth: impact of race/ethnicity, age, gender, & weight status. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 2010, 42 (12), p. 2211. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3181e1fba9.

Bovet P., Auguste R., Burdette H. Strong inverse association between physical fitness and overweight in adolescents: a large school-based survey. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2007, 4 (1), pp. 1-8. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-4-24.

Castetbon K., Andreyeva T. Obesity and motor skills among 4 to 6-year-old children in the United States: Nationally-representative surveys. BMC pediatrics, 2012, 12 (1), pp. 1-9. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2431-12-28.

Chivers P., Larkin D., Rose E., Beilin L., Hands B. Low motor performance scores among overweight children: poor coordination or morphological constraints?. Human Movement Science, 2013, 32 (5), pp. 1127-1137. DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2013.08.006.

Corrales D.C., Corrales J.C., Ledezma A. How to address the data quality issues in regression models: a guided process for data cleaning. Symmetry, 2018, 10 (4), p. 99. DOI: 10.3390/sym10040099.

D'hondt E., Gentier I., Deforche B., Tanghe A., De Bourdeaudhuij I. et al. Weight loss and improved gross motor coordination in children as a result of multidisciplinary residential obesity treatment. Obesity, 2011, 19 (10), pp. 1999-2005. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2011.150.

Huang Y.C., Malina R.M. BMI and health-related physical fitness in Taiwanese youth 9-18 years. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 2007, 39 (4), p. 701. DOI: 10.1249/mss.0b013e31802f0512.

Kakebeeke T.H., Lanzi S., Zysset A.E., Arhab A., Messerli-Bürgy N. et al. Association between body composition and motor performance in preschool children. Obesity facts, 2017, 10 (5), pp. 420-431. DOI: 10.1159/000477406

Lopes V.P. Malina R.M., Maia J.A., Rodrigues, L.P. Body mass index and motor coordination: Non‐linear relationships in children 6–10 years. Child: care, health and development, 2018, 44 (3), pp. 443-451. DOI: 10.1111/cch.12557.

Malina R.M., Beunen G.P., Claessens A.L., Lefevre J., Eynde B.V. et al. Fatness and physical fitness of girls 7 to 17 years. Obesity Research, 1995, 3 (3), p. 221-231. DOI: 10.1002/j.1550-8528.1995.tb00142.x.

Nobre J. N. P., Morais R.L.D.S., Fernandes A.C., Viegas Â.A., Figueiredo P.H.S et al. Is body fat mass associated with worse gross motor skills in preschoolers? An exploratory study. PloS one, 2022, 17 (3), p. e0264182. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264182.

Onis M., Onyango A.W., Borghi E., Siyam A., Nishida C. et al. Development of a WHO growth reference for school-aged children and adolescents. Bulletin of the World health Organization, 2007, 85 (9) pp. 660-667. DOI: 10.2471/BLT.07.043497.

Wood A. P., McMillan A.G., Imai S., Swift D., DuBose, K.D. Associations of Percent Body Fat and Motor Skill Development in Preschool-Aged Children: National Youth Fitness Survey. Childhood Obesity, 2022, 18 (1), pp. 50-55. DOI: 10.1089/chi.2021.0026.

World Health Organization. Interim report of the commission on ending childhood obesity, World Health Organization, 2015, № WHO/NMH/PND/ECHO/15.1.